(Stormy applause.) What is the essence of our
programme? Winning socialism. There is no way out of the world
war at this moment except by the victory of socialism. But many
do not realise this. Most people all over the world now oppose
this bloody slaughter, but they cannot see its direct connection
with the capitalist system. The horrors of this war are obvious
even to the bourgeoisie, but you cannot expect them to associate
the end of the war with the end of capitalism .... This,
however, is the fundamental idea which has always distinguished
the Bolsheviks, and the revolutionary socialists of all other
countries, from those who would like to bring peace on earth
while leaving the capitalist system intact.

What are wars fought for? We know the majority of wars were
fought in the interests of dynasties, and were called dynastic
wars. But some wars were fought in the interests of the
oppressed. Spartacus set off a war in defence of the enslaved
class. Wars of this nature were waged in the period of colonial
oppression continuing to this day, in the period of slavery,
etc. These wars were just wars and must not be condemned.

But when we talk about the present European war and condemn it,
we do so only because it is being waged by the oppressor
class.

What is the aim of the present war? If we are to believe the
diplomats of all countries, it is being fought by France and
Britain to defend the small nations from the barbarians, the
German Huns. Germany, for her part, is fighting the Cossack
barbarians who are menacing the civilised German people, and is
defending the fatherland from the enemy attack.

But we know this war was carefully prepared, it matured and
became inevitable. It was just as inevitable as war is between
America and Japan. Why?

Because capitalism has concentrated the earth's wealth in the
hands of a few states and divided the world up to the last
little bit. Any further division, any further enrichment could
take place only at the expense of others, as the enrichment of
one state at the expense of another. The issue could only be
settled by force-and, accordingly, war between the world
marauders became inevitable.

This war has up to now been headed by two principal
firms-Britain and Germany. Britain was the strongest of the
colonialist countries. Although her population is not more than
40,000,000, that of her colonies exceeds 400,000,000. Long ago
she took by force the colonies of others; she seized vast
territories and exploited them. But economically she fell behind
Germany during the last fifty years. German industry overhauled
British industry. Germany's large-scale state capitalism
combined with the bureaucracy-and Germany beat all records.

The rivalry for supremacy between these two giants could only
be settled by force.

There was a time when Britain, by dint of her might, seized
territory from Holland, Portugal and other countries. Then Germany
appeared on the scene and declared that it was now her turn to enrich
herself at the expense of others.

That is the root of the matter--the struggle between the strongest
powers for the division of the world. And as both sides posses
hundreds of millions of capital, their struggle has become
world-wide.

We know how many secret crimes have been committed in
connection with this war. The secret treaties we have published
show that the lofty reasons given for the war are just a lot of
empty talk, and that, just like Russia, all the states were
involved in sordid treaties for getting rich at the expense of
small and weak nations. The result was that those who were
strong grew richer still, while those who were weak were
crushed.

Individuals cannot be blamed for starting the war; it would be
wrong to blame kings and tsars for having brought about this
holocaust-it was brought about by capital. Capitalism has turned
into a blind alley. This blind alley is imperialism, which
dictated war among the rivals for world supremacy.

The claim that the war is being waged for the liberation of
small nations is a monstrous lie. Both sets of marauders
continue to stand glaring bloodthirstily at each other, while
about them many a small nation lies crushed.

And we say there is no way out of the imperialist holocaust
except by civil war.

When we said this in 1914 we were told it was like a straight
line extending into space; but our analysis has been
corroborated by the whole subsequent course of events. Today we
find chauvinism's generals being left without an army. In
France, which suffered most from the war and was most responsive
to the call to defend the fatherland-for the enemy stood at the
gates of Paris-the defence advocates have recently suffered a
fiasco. True enough, it was at the hands of people like Longuet,
who do not know whether they are coming or going, but that is
not important.

We know that in the early days of the revolution in Russia
power fell into the hands of people who spouted all sorts of
words but kept the old tsarist treaties in their pockets. And if
in Russia parties veered to the left more rapidly, this was due
to the accursed regime that existed before the revolution and to
our Revolution of 1905.

In Europe, though, where a shrewd and calculating capitalism
rules, where it possesses a powerful and well-knit organisation,
the fumes of nationalism are wearing off more
slowly. Nevertheless, we can unmistakably see that the
imperialist war is dying a slow and painful death.

There is quite reliable information to show that the German
army is becoming demoralised, and has taken to profiteering. It
could hardly be otherwise. The moment the soldier wakes up and
begins to understand that he is being maimed and killed solely
in the interests of the bourgeoisie, demoralisation is bound to
spread among the mass of soldiers.

The French army, which kept its morale longer and more
persistently than any of the others, likewise shows that it is
not immune to demoralisation. The Malvy trial has somewhat
lifted the curtain over the scene in France, too, and has
revealed that thousands of soldiers have refused to go to the
front.[1]

All this is but the herald of events similar to those in
Russia, except that in the civilised countries the civil war
will be far more brutal than in Russia. We can see that in the
case of Finland, the most democratic country in Europe, the
first country to give women the vote. Yet this country took
savage and ruthless reprisals on the Red Army men; and the
latter did not surrender easily. This shows what a terrible fate
awaits these civilised countries.

You can see for yourselves how absurd it was to accuse the
Bolsheviks of demoralising the Russian army.

We represent only one detachment, a detachment which has
advanced some way ahead of the other workers'
detachments—not because it is any better than the others,
but because the stupid policy of our bourgeoisie enabled the
working class of Russia to throw off its chains sooner. Today,
in fighting for a socialist system in Russia, we are fighting
for socialism all over the world. Today, the Bolsheviks are the
sole subject of discussion at all workers' meetings and
gatherings in all countries. They know us; they know that what
we are now doing is furthering the cause of the whole world,
that we are working for them.

When we abolish private ownership of land, nationalise the
factories and the banks, which are now engaged in organising
industry, cries are raised on all sides that we are committing
hosts of mistakes. That may be true, but the workers are
creating socialism themselves, and no matter what mistakes we
make we are learning from experience and paving the way for the
art of making revolution without mistakes.

That is why we are the objects of such savage hatred. That is
why the French imperialists do not begrudge hundreds of millions
to support counter-revolution, since this would bring the
repayment to France of the Russian debts, running into billions,
which the workers and peasants have annulled.

Today the whole
bourgeois press is amusing itself by filling its columns with
such lies as that the Council of People's Commissars has moved
to Tula, that it was seen ten days ago in Kronstadt, and so on,
that Moscow is about to fall and that the Soviet Government has
fled.

The whole bourgeoisie, all the Romanovs, all the capitalists
and landowners support the Czechs, whose revolt they associate
with the possible fall of the Soviet government. The Allies know
this, and they are launching one of their fiercest attacks. What
they lacked in Russia was a nucleus, and now they have found it
in the Czechs. The Czech revolt therefore must not be treated
lightly. This revolt was the signal for a number of
counter-revolutionary risings; our revolutionary history has
recently been marked by many kulak and whiteguard revolts.

The position of the Soviet government is grave, and we must not
close our eyes to the fact. But you have only to look around you
to be filled with confidence in our victory.

Germany has suffered a number of defeats, and it is no secret that
these defeats are the result of "treason" on the part of German
soldiers; French soldiers refused to go to the front at a very
critical moment because of the arrest of Comrade Andrieux whom the
government was compelled to release to get the troops to move, and so
on and so forth.

We have made many sacrifices. The Brest-Litovsk Peace was one
painful wound; we expected a revolution in Germany, but the time
for it was not yet ripe. It is ripening now; revolution is
undoubtedly brewing and is inevitable. But only a fool can ask
when revolution will break out in the West. Revolution can never
be forecast; it cannot be foretold; it comes of
itself. Revolution is brewing and is bound to flare up. Did
anybody know a week before the February revolution it was about
to break out? When the mad priest led the people to the
palace,[2] did anybody think the Revolution of
1905 was about to break out? But revolution is brewing and is
bound to come.

And we must keep the Soviet government intact until it
begins. Our mistakes must serve as a lesson to the proletariat
in the West, to the world socialist movement. The salvation of
the world revolution as well as of the Russian revolution lies
on the Czech front. And we already have news that the army which
time and again was betrayed by the generals, which is terribly
exhausted, that this army, with the coming of our comrades, the
Communists, the workers, is beginning to win victories, is
beginning to display revolutionary enthusiasm in the struggle
against the world bourgeoisie.

We believe that victory will be ours and that by our victory we
shall save the cause of socialism. (Stormy applause.)

Endnotes

[1]
In the spring and summer of 1917 there was mounting discontent
in the French army against the continuation of the war, inspired
by the growth of an anti-war revolutionary movement among the
French workers under the impact of the bourgeois-democratic
revolution in Russia in February 1917. The presence of Russian
soldiers in France, who had been seat there in 1916, also added
to the ferment in the French armed forces. After the February
1917 revolution the Russian army units stationed in France set
up Soviets of Soldiers' Deputies to control the actions of the
offi- cers. Most Russian soldiers refused to fight and demanded
from the Provisional Government that they be sent home. This had
its inevitable effect on the French units. In mid-May, after the
French offensive had failed and scores of thousands of French
soldiers had been killed, a revolutionary movement began in the
army and continued to the end of June. War-weary soldiers did
not want to stay in the trenches and organised rallies demanding
better conditions and cessation of the imperialist
war. According to official data, the movement involved 75
infantry regiments, 23 rifle battalions and 12 artillery
regiments. The soldiers not only refused to obey officers but
even turned their weapons against the govern- ment. However, the
soldiers were not prepared for consistent revolutionary action
against the war, one reason being the absence of a workers'
revolutionary party. The French Government quelled the unrest
with the help of social-chauvinists and
anarcho-syndicalists. Following this, the French Home Minister
Malvy was brought for trial on the charge of failure to deal
firmly enough with the "defeatists.

[2]
Lenin refers to the priest Gapon, an agent of the secret
police. Bent on provocation, he proposed to hold a peaceful march
to the Winter Palace to submit a petition to the tsar on January
9,1905. The tsar gave the order to open fire on the unarmed
workers, their wives and children. Over 1,000 were killed and some
5,000 wounded. On that very day barricades were thrown in in
Petrograd and there were armed skirmishes between the workers, and
the police and troops. January 9 marked the beginning of the
First Russian Revolution.